# At the Earth’s Core — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

- [Prologue](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/prologue.md): The narrator introduces the incredulous tale of a man he met in the Sahara, who claims to have spent ten years in a hidden inner world. The man's sincerity and a strange creature he brought back convince the narrator of 
- [I: Toward the Eternal Fires](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/i-toward-the-eternal-fires.md): David Innes recounts his early life and his partnership with the inventor Abner Perry to build a mechanical subterranean prospector, the 'Iron Mole.' They embark on a test voyage into the earth, facing extreme temperatur
- [A Strange World](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/ii-a-strange-world.md): David Innes regains consciousness after a brief blackout and revives Abner Perry. They discover that the Iron Mole has surfaced in a bizarre, alien landscape with a motionless, oversized sun and no horizon. After explori
- [A Change of Masters](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/iii-a-change-of-masters.md): David Innes and Abner Perry are captured by ape-like creatures and brought to a tree village. After being reunited, Perry reveals that they have traveled to the inner world of Pellucidar, where a stationary sun creates e
- [IV: Dian the Beautiful](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/iv-dian-the-beautiful.md): David Innes and Abner Perry continue their forced march as captives of the Sagoths. David learns the language of his fellow prisoners from a young woman named Dian the Beautiful, who tells him she is fleeing from Jubal t
- [Slaves](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/v-slaves.md): David Innes and Abner Perry, enslaved in Phutra, plan an escape. David discovers sleeping Mahars and proposes killing them to flee, but Perry objects on moral grounds, arguing the Mahars are an intelligent dominant race.
- [The Beginning of Horror](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/vi-the-beginning-of-horror.md): David, Perry, and Ghak attempt to escape but are swept into a forced march to witness the punishment of two recaptured slaves. At an arena, they observe a spectacle where a man and woman fight a thag and a tarag. The wom
- [VII: Freedom](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/vii-freedom.md): David Innes escapes from Phutra and crosses the plain, grappling with guilt over leaving Perry behind. He reaches a valley with an inland sea, where he is pursued by a copper-skinned man. After commandeering the man's lo
- [The Mahar Temple](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/viii-the-mahar-temple.md): David Innes escapes from the Mahar temple after falling into a tank, discovers a hidden exit, and later meets Ja, a Mezop fisherman. Ja explains the Mezops' truce with the Mahars and shows David the temple's interior, wh
- [IX: The Face of Death](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/ix-the-face-of-death.md): David Innes awakens exhausted and hungry on an island, eventually finds a hidden canoe, and paddles back to the mainland. He resolves to return to Phutra to reunite with Perry and Ghak, despite the slim chances of escape
- [Phutra Again](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/x-phutra-again.md): David Innes is rescued by Ja, who offers him friendship and a place in his tribe. David explains his need to return to Phutra to rescue Perry and Dian, and debates the shape of Pellucidar with Ja. Despite Ja's warnings, 
- [XI: Four Dead Mahars](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/xi-four-dead-mahars.md): David Innes is sentenced to the experimental pits for telling the truth about the outer world. He escapes his chains using a dropped surgical instrument and flees through the corridors. He finds the three sleeping Mahars
- [Pursuit](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/xii-pursuit.md): David Innes, Ghak, Perry, and Hooja escape Phutra disguised in Mahar skins. After a harrowing flight through Pellucidar's dangerous wilderness, they reach the foothills of Sari only to spot Sagoth pursuers. Ghak refuses 
- [The Sly One](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/xiii-the-sly-one.md): David Innes, Ghak, and Perry flee from the Sagoths through a canyon toward Sari, but Hooja the Sly One betrays them by failing to summon help. David sacrifices himself by leading the Sagoths up a separate canyon to allow
- [The Garden of Eden](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/xiv-the-garden-of-eden.md): David Innes, having fled from Dian's rejection, discovers a secluded valley he calls his 'Garden of Eden' and establishes a cave home. After a period of solitude, he returns to Dian and forcefully declares his love, only
- [Back to Earth](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/xv-back-to-earth.md): David Innes recounts his return to the outer world and his preparations to go back to Pellucidar, including a battle against Sagoths and Mahars, the recovery of slaves including Hooja the Sly One, and the narrator's subs

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters